Voice star to swing by

The Voice 2013 winner Harrison Craig will be transporting Albany Entertainment Centre to Las Vegas on Saturday, July 15, when he brings new album tour Kings of Vegas to town.

With a swing sound self-described as a mix between Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, Craig’s previous two records proved a huge success and he started touring with his third album in May this year.

After returning from his own trip to Vegas and staying in Frank Sinatra’s house, Craig said he returned to Australia wanting to share a record that reflected the most important music influences in his life — the 1950s music legends of Vegas.

“I wanted to record an album that is true to how the impact of Vegas first got me into music, which was hearing Nat King Cole’s song Smile when I was five,” he said.

Craig worked on the record with Chong Lim, the long-term musical director for the John Farnham band.

The pair had to narrow down an original list of almost 300 songs to the 10 that feature on the album.

The almost 23-year-old has also just released his first children’s book, Harrison’s Songs.

Craig, who suffered from a stutter as a child, said the book showed children that no matter what their issues were, they could overcome them and live their dream.

“I guess for me, being able to overcome my stutter was a really good thing but I couldn’t have done that without music or my mum or my brother,” he said.

“It really shows music really helped me and how you have to work really hard and be determined to get somewhere.”

Going the extra mile to spread this message, Craig has offered to attend schools in the area to read the book and talk about how it is possible for children to reach their dreams.

“If schools want to have that opportunity, I am more than happy to stay over in WA and talk to the kids about everything because it is just so important,” he said.

Tickets are still available online through www.ticketek.com.